


The Bramble

by theduskysky



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24383086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theduskysky/pseuds/theduskysky
Summary: Thorin Oakenshield is a dwarrow beset by mystery. Bilbo Baggins has disappeared, the mountainside has miraculously recovered and there is a mysterious creature around the mountain.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Comments: 24
Kudos: 154





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will not be very long but it's a fancy I had today.

Thorin stood on the parapet overlooking the gate and the valley below and took a deep breath. The air was still cool and fresh with the morning. It wouldn’t get hot this far up the mountain but the air would warm as the sun rose and did its work. He was, he’d admit, more mindful of it now, looking at the verdant valley and mountain side. No one had expected the mountain to recover so quickly from Smaug’s desolation. 

In the seven months since the final battle, a change had been wrought over the mountain. They had expected the landscape to be barren for years before growth returned, but winter plants had sprouted up everywhere unexpectedly. As spring turned into summer, grasses, bushes, flowers, all returned, bloomed and grew at an astounding rate. Trees had grown and were as tall as a man. They were still young and spindly things. Now early summer, the mountain side was as alive with growth as it ever had been, even more so. Thorin could not recall the grass ever being this green in his youth or so very lush. 

It wasn’t just the plants that had returned either. As the foliage and grasses grew, small animals and birds had returned. A trickling few at first, but they were in full force now. He could hear them sometimes, chirping brightly when he ventured out onto balconies or if he rode down to Dale. It was a matter to ponder. Dale had recovered, certainly. The dwarrow had assisted in rebuilding, which was ongoing but the men were responsible for their own cultivation of the land. The dwarrow could not assist them there. They had begun farming again as soon as they were able and had achieved success. The first harvests of fast growing vegetables were much welcome to what Erebor had been able to secure by import. But more than once, he had heard Bard or the head farmers he’d met in passing wonder at the verdant miracle of the mountain.

“It still amazes me,” Bard had told him at their last meeting in Dale. “How do you not know anything about cultivation and yet look at your mountain.” They had been strolling to the outskirts of the city where the rams waited to take them back up to Erebor. They paused and gazed up the green slope. The whole hillside was green but you could see the shade deepen as it crawled upwards to Erebor. 

“We have been much blessed,” Balin said by Thorin’s side.

“Indeed,” Bard sighed. “Would that we had priests of our own to pray for our recovery but I’m afraid most of us have lost all belief in a benevolent higher power. My people have been through too much.”

Thorin hummed. A few of the priests and warrior monks of Mahal had returned to the mountain to restore the temple and they had conducted rites to cleanse the mountain. It had cleared a miasma that had seemed to linger within the mountain, but as far as he knew, they had never concerned themselves with the exterior of the mountain. That change was inexplicable.

“It’s amazing and beautiful,” Fili said from behind him, wonder in his voice.

“It reminds me of the Shire,” he heard Kili say quietly. He didn’t turn at the sadness he heard in his voice. He couldn’t face that sentiment. It reminded him of the abundant growth of the Shire too and that made his heart twist painfully as it always did every time the same thought struck him.

Bilbo...

“Well… if you figure out your secret, do be a good neighbor and share,” Bard smiled, slapping Thorin on the back in farewell.

Thorin shook off the memory and took one final deep, cleansing breath before turning back into the mountain. He had meetings to attend this morning and he could not spend his time in fruitless longing.

~~~~~~~~~~

“... well I think it’s good luck,” Kili was saying earnestly. “I hope they never catch it!”

Thorin came around the council table and set his sheaf of reports down. “What’s this?” he asked looking around at the small council. Kili, Fili, Dwalin, Dis and Gloin were already seated. Balin and Ori had yet to arrive. 

“It was that Bramble. It’s a menace,” Dwalin groused.

“How is it a menace?” Kili asked defensively. “It saved little Timut!”

Dwalin harrumphed. “You can’t believe what the child said. He was hurt and dazed.”

“Exactly! He was hurt and too far to have made it back by himself!” Kili exclaimed.

“What happened?” Thorin asked, turning to Dis on his right.

“Some of the dwarrowlings were playing on the hillside yesterday. They accidentally left one of the younger boys behind. He said he fell and twisted his ankle to where he could not walk back. It was getting dark and he said a small creature came out of the bushes. He thought he was going to be eaten, but the creature gave him water and…”

“Gave him water?” Thorin asked incredulously.

“Wrapped his ankle and dragged him back to the gate on a travois of branches!” Kili cut in. Thorin raised an eyebrow and turned back to Dis.

“Yes. That part is true as far as we can ascertain. Oin examined him. His ankle was badly twisted and bruised. But it had been wrapped in herbs and leaves of some kind. The gate guard said he had been taken to the sentry gate instead of the main gate. The bell had been rung and when they opened the gate, there was Timut on a bed of woven branches.”

“The bell had been rung?” Thorin asked incredulously.

“And not by Timut! It was the Bramble that saved him!” Kili interjected.

“The Bramble!” Dwalin mumbled. “Stories children and elves tell.”

“Elves?” Thorin asked. Apparently, he wasn’t current on the developments of the local tale.

“We asked the elven guard when we last patrolled out to the Mirkwood border,” Fili added. “They didn’t know what it might be either but thought it might be some sort of wood sprite that has wandered out of the forest.”

“Well they can have their wood sprite back,” said Dwalin. “It stalks the dwarrowlings.”

“That’s alarming,” Thorin said. “Does it really stalk the children?”

“I don’t believe it does,” Fili said. “It has never done any harm. But the children are the ones who claim to see it most often.”

“It watches over them,” Kili said.

“You don’t know that,” Dwalin disagreed.

“It does!” Kili insisted. “It never lets them get too far from the gates and it’s been said to have chased off foxes from them. Once, they said it chased off a great bear!”

“Mayhap we should investigate this further,” Balin said as he entered the room, Ori trailing behind him. “I have heard some of the stories. The creature seems to be benign but we should be sure.”

“Perhaps the children should not be freely roaming if it still is out there.”

“Some are not mountain born dwarrowlings,” Dis said. “They like to be outdoors. I don’t think we can keep them always inside.”

“Still, ask the patrol to be on the lookout for this creature….”

“The Bramble!” 

“Why do they call it that?” Ori quietly asked. He was always in meetings and in the library and hadn’t heard as many stories about it as the princes had.

“It’s small and hides in the brambles that grow around the mountain. They say it has fur that looks like leaves and it’s quiet as a mouse and blends in. That’s why no one but the children have seen it. They say you have to hide and wait and sometimes you can hear it rustling in the bushes,” Kili eagerly explained.

“And have you been crouched out in the bushes then Kili?” Dis asked. 

“Yes.” “No.” Fili and Kili answered simultaneously, Fili laughing and Kili defensive. 

Kili hunched his shoulders. “I just thought that maybe… “ 

“Maybe what?” Dwalin asked.

“Maybe he....” Kili trailed off. They all knew the “he” that he was referring to.

“Master Baggins has long returned home,” Thorin said tonelessly. “But we should investigate this Bramble business. Have the patrol keep an eye out for it. We need to know if it’s a fell creature or not. Let’s move on…”

Kili sat back disappointedly as Thorin began the day’s business.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thorin sat making notes while some filed out of the council room. They had another meeting shortly with the guildmasters. Balin was conferring with Ori when Dis leaned over to speak to him quietly.

“Tharkun is to arrive tomorrow. Perhaps he can discover what this Bramble is.” Thorin only hummed in response. “I’m sure he’ll also be able to tell you about your halfling. Surely he’s tracked him down by now.”

“It does not matter, Dis. Let him be happy where he is. If he had wanted to stay, he would have.”

“Perhaps he did not know…”

“Please, Dis. He never wanted to stay.”

“You can’t go on this way.”

“Enough, Dis. He lives and that’s all that matters.”

“It’s not enough and you know it.” Thorin could tell she was gearing up for the same fight but the door opened and the guildmasters began filing in. He sighed and braced himself for an afternoon full of meetings.

Later, as the evening began to cool again, he wandered back out to the parapet above the ramparts. Nodding at the sentries, he strolled along quietly thinking. Bilbo… Bilbo had been missing since the battle. No one had seen or heard from him. Most had assumed that he had returned to his homeland but no one knew for sure.

He recalled that night in the battle’s aftermath. His company had been scattered, taking the reins of responsibility in his absence to keep his newly recovered kingdom from being overruled by the Iron Hills dwarves. He had sent Oin to attend his nephews. Besides himself, they had been the most grievously injured. Ori had assisted him. Balin and Dori had sat in council with Dain, Bard, Thranduil and Gandalf. Dwalin and Bifur had been assessing the guard. Gloin and Nori had been assisting with the distribution of supplies. Bombur and Bofur had been helping with the cooks. 

The Iron Hills medics had been looking after him. He didn’t remember much from the haze of pain and drugs he’d been in. They said he had deteriorated during the night and that Thranduil himself had come to treat his wounds. He did remember thinking he was going to die and calling out for Bilbo but no one seemed to know what he meant. When he awoke three days later, Bilbo was nowhere to be found and no one recalled him asking for Bilbo. The medics said he had been mumbling words they didn’t understand. He had even gone so far as to ask Thranduil about it but all he got was a stony face and a claim that he didn’t recall him asking for anything.

He knew Fili and Kili and really all of his company missed Bilbo terribly. It hurt that he left without saying goodbye but he really couldn’t blame Bilbo after everything that had happened. But he did miss him. He rubbed at his chest and turned back to retire for the evening.

~~~~~~~~~~

He was sitting in his office the next afternoon when Gandalf burst in, robes swirling. One of the assistants was stammering apologies behind him as Thorin waved him off and stood to greet the wizard.

“Gandalf…”

“I cannot find him.”

Thorin stopped. ”Who?” he asked, afraid he already knew the answer.

“Bilbo! I have been to the Shire and back and everywhere in between and there is no trace of him. Are you sure he is not here?”

“No. No, he is not. We have searched everywhere. He is not in the mountain, nor is he in Dale. You have not possibly missed him on the road?”

“No, I am sure. Though I have responsibilities other than chasing after one hobbit and had other tasks to tend to. But I am sure.” Gandalf sighed, took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I cannot find him,” he said resignedly.

"I know not where he is, but I know… I know he is alive,” Thorin said slowly. 

Gandalf looked at him considering. "How can you know such a thing if you know not where he is?"

Thorin slumped back into his chair. “He is… my khi, id-amlâk amrâb-ê.” It was a moment before he could continue. "I can feel his spirit. He lives.”

Gandalf was quiet for some time, his eyes cast down as he thought. “There is something else going on here. I noticed how verdant your mountain is. It is… unnatural for so quick a recovery. Can you explain it?”

“No, though many have remarked upon it. Our people see it as Mahal’s blessing but we know not.”

“I do not think this is a coincidence, Thorin,” Gandalf said gravely.

“What do you think has caused it then?”

“I do not know.” Gandalf was silent for a few moments more. “I will go and ponder this for a bit. As long as you are sure he is alive?”

“I am.”

Gandalf nodded and turned to leave. “Yes, there is something more going on here…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khuzdul translations:  
> Khi - One  
> id-amlâk amrâb-ê - the half of my soul


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gandalf may have a theory.

Gandalf spent the next fortnight conducting his investigation. He went down to Dale and questioned many of the men. He wandered the mountain, tracking down many who had survived the battle. He asked what they had seen, what they heard. He also traversed the exterior of the mountain. Fili and Kili followed and watched him examine tree and plant alike. He dug into roots, murmuring to himself, rubbing soil between thumb and forefinger. 

He left for two days before he was sighted on the edge of the Mirkwood accompanied by two elves. They pointed and spoke much before the elves melted back into the trees. He then disappeared for eight days. When he returned on horseback, he was followed by a familiar sled pulled by rabbits. The two wizards, instead of continuing into the mountain, dismounted on the hillside and began moving from bush to tree to flower to grasses. Radagast touched plants and dug into roots with his staff. Fili and Kili, who had heard the sentries call out their arrival, snuck up upon them to listen in to their discussion.

“...very peculiar indeed, Gandalf.”

“That is why I brought you. What do you think?”

“I am quite astonished! This mountain… it should not have yet recovered from the taint of the dragon… not quite yet anyway and surely not to this extent!. Yes, yes… nature does take over again once left to her work but to have this much growth so soon? So much healthy growth?” 

Gandalf followed sedately behind Radagast as he puttered from bush to bush. “Why these plants... Look at the size of these leaves, these stalks! These plants are very healthy. These surely have been lovingly tended to. No, no… these cannot be wild growth. You are correct. Something else is happening here. See… look how the trees grow? Here at the roots? See how they have been nourished? They have been supplemented.” He skipped from one to another across the field. 

“See? Do you not see? There and… over there,” he gestured wildly. “There is a pattern here. These have been planted just so to give them optimal growing conditions. They do not compete with one another for resources. There is a symbiosis between tree and bush and grass. See how the birds make their homes here and how the bees have plenty to sustain them? Lovely, lovely… it is all so very lovely.”

Fili and Kili were unable to catch all of the discussion as they scuttled low to follow the wizards. 

“Yes, you are quite correct. There is a guiding mind here. This is not an accident! This… all this is a garden. A very large garden, mind but there is purpose here. This is planned!” Radagast proclaimed excitedly as he turned to face the other wizard. 

“These are very old techniques I see employed here, Gandalf, very old indeed. I have not seen the like since… since the holbytlan farmed the Gladden Fields. Yes, along the vales of the Anduin. They had a magic then, all their own… granted by the Ilúvatar. Nature bent to them like none other save their lady, Yavanna. Who has done this Gandalf? Who has the care of all this?”

Gandalf leaned thoughtfully against his staff. “I have my suspicions but no proof.” He paused as Radagast whistled a cardinal out of a nearby tree to perch on his finger. “You say these are very cared for?”

“Lovingly tended,” Radagast repeated, stroking the feathered breast of the bird with a gentle finger. “Quite sure. Only a holbytla. Pretty bird, pretty bird,” Radagast cooed. “We are not too far from the Anduin, but I was not aware that any of the holbytlan remained. I thought they had all moved on an age ago.”

“So they had. But their descendants occupy a land far to the west. Hobbits, they are called now.”

“To the west then? Have there not been any here recently?”

“Aye. There was one.” Gandalf sighed. “But he has been missing these many months. No one has seen hide nor hair of him.”

“Mmmm… not so missing, I think, if that is true.” The brown wizard turned and looked across the mountainside. “None other could have done this work, of that I am sure, Gandalf.”

“As am I.” They stood for a few moments as Radagast whistled to the bird. When it finally rustled its wings and flew back up to its nest, Gandalf stirred. “Come, we should pay a visit to the king of the mountain and see if he has any news. They will provide a sumptuous dinner to guests. Is that not so Prince Fili? Prince Kili?" 

The wizards turned to a sudden rustling in the bushes behind them. "Aye, that is so, Ganldalf," Fili said standing and straightening is tunic. 

"And maybe in return you might tell us about your suspicions, eh Gandalf?" Kili added.

"I might be convinced. Come along now. We must bed down some rabbits!"

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Thorin greeted Gandalf gladly when he entered the royal dining room. After all, Gandalf was searching to find the missing hobbit and he would gladly lend all his resources for such a search.

Kili was more than eager to broach the subject as the meal began, saving Thorin the trouble. “Do you really think it might be him?” he asked.

“Well your garden…” Radagast began.

“We don’t have a garden,” Dwalin stated flatly.

“Oh but you do,” Radagast replied, his hands shaking in his excitement. “Your whole mountain is one beautifully tended garden! Why, it’s amazing what they’ve been able to accomplish given that it’s only been mere months since the reclamation! Why the sheer size and scope of the work that had to be done…”

“Indeed. It does seem miraculous.” Balin interjected to stop the wizard from prattling on. “A tended garden implies there is a tendee. Who do you suppose that to be?”

“Oh, well that is the easy part. The only answer possible given the results is one of the holbytlan.”

“The who?” Dis asked.

“The holbytlan were the race that once occupied the Gladden Fields,” Gandalf explained. “They moved on an age ago and their descendants are more commonly known as…” Everyone leaned forward as he paused for dramatic effect. “... the hobbits.” There was a collective gasp before everyone started talking at once. Nothing could be heard over the chatter until Thorin banged his fist on the table three times making all of the dish ware clatter.

“Gandalf…,” Thorin began, disbelief and hope warring within him. “Surely you can’t believe…”

“I do. I believe that our dear hobbit is living somewhere in the immediate vicinity and that this is all somehow his work. However, I have yet to find actual traces of him,” he sighed. “But I am not giving up hope!”

Over the next few days, Radagast could be seen rambling around the mountain. He often stopped to converse with the birds or small fauna. He continued his examination of many of the plants, even uprooting a few and slipping them into his pack. At times, he thought he heard a rustling or even a low growling but when he turned around, he never saw hide nor hair of any creature. He did however, report his thoughts to Gandalf who was doing his own searching around the mountain. 

Dwalin did move forward with his own search for the elusive Bramble and increased the sentries around the base of the mountain near the gates. They moved in small groups and were especially instructed to keep an eye on any dwarrowlings. 

Fili and Kili tailed Radagast as they found his little interludes with the animals quite amusing. They struck up several conversations about the mountain’s recovery and asked after the wizard’s thoughts. It was on such a ramble on the westward side of the gates that they heard a nearby ruckus. What could only be sentries were shouting and they ran to see what the commotion was about. 

As they neared the small copse, two of the sentries were dragging something from the thick brush. They had ahold of what they presumed to be its forelimbs. It was making all manner of sounds, snarling, growling and hissing while twisting its small body, trying to break their hold. It was dark with wild hair or fur and large back paws that were kicking wildly at anything that got near. One of the sentries had a spear and was trying to use it to pin one of the creature’s legs down but it’s unpredictable movement was making it difficult although the dwarrow had managed to nick it a few times. 

“Keep at it,” one of the sentries yelled. “Once it’s lost enough blood, it’ll slow down.”

Kili was horrified. He knew this was the Bramble creature that the children had seen. He ran quickly into the fray, swinging his sword to knock the spear away. “Stop! Stop! Back away! Let it go!” His entry into the conflict caused more confusion for a moment until Fili, hot on his heels, arrived, commanding the others to cease and back away. After a few moments of indecision, the two sentries let go and the creature dropped to the ground. It scrambled to find its footing before getting its four legs under it. Then it backed slowly towards the brush, growling, showing them its white, blunt, teeth.

Kili crouched down where the creature could see him but didn’t make any move toward it. He could feel the sentries behind him shuffling, as if readying to make a move. “Back away,” he ground out, turning his head slightly to make sure they did not try to attack the creature again.

“Step back,” Fili barked, reinforcing his command.

Kili held his crouch and watched the little thing closely. It didn’t have paws, at least not on its forelimbs. Those were hands, small, dirty, mud encrusted little hands. His eyes traveled up the little body and he realized that whatever it was, it wasn’t furred. It was clothed. Granted, it was dirt caked, but there was a faint semblance of clothes on it. There was no color but mud and there were rough fibers woven in patches, but it was definitely wearing clothes of some sort. The face of the creature was hard to make out because it was so dark and dirty but he would swear the little face was hairless, if fearsome with its little growling visage.

Little, but fierce, Kili thought. “Fee…” he whispered. He could feel Fili crouching just behind him. “It’s him, Fee.” He tried to take a step closer, but the little creature’s growl got louder as it hopped back twice. That’s when he noticed it was holding up one of its legs. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s alright. We won’t hurt you,” he crooned gently. He held out his hands, palms up to show the little thing that he wouldn’t hurt it. He didn’t want to say his name aloud because he didn’t think he could take it if it wasn’t him but he was so sure he was right. It was him. It had to be him… but what had happened? 

“See,” he said gently, “I’m your friend. I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m your friend.” The little creature eyed him warily as it shifted, obviously in some pain from its wounds. “Let me help you, yeah? We can get you all fixed up, get you cleaned up. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? A nice hot bath?” He was so focused on it, he didn’t notice the single sentry sidling up to the little one until he heard a thump and saw its little body crumple forward.

“What?” he yelled in surprise, looking up at the sentry who was still holding his sword, with the pommel poised to strike again. Kili surged up and pushed him back. “Why did you hurt him?”

“We were told to capture it if we can,” the sentry explained. “Get some rope. We need to secure it," he directed the others.

“No! No rope! I will take him!” Kili leaned down over the little body and gently scooped it up in his arms. Now that he was holding it as it lay still, it was apparent that it wasn’t an animal but a small man. “It’s him, Fee. I know it. I don’t know what’s happened but I’m not tying him up. He’s scared enough as it is.”

Fili nodded. “Let’s get him to Gandalf,” he said somberly. "Preferably before he wakes."

Kili set off for the gates, cradling the little form against his chest. As he entered within the mountain, he turned for the infirmary he knew Oin presided over. He paid no attention to the sentry who advised him to take the creature to the dungeon. 

"We will take responsibility for it," he heard Fili say. "Go. Make your report. Have someone find Gandalf and have him meet us in the infirmary."

When he reached his destination, Kili went straight to one of the beds to lay the little body down. Oin, who had seen them enter, followed behind them. "Is it one of the dwarrowlings? What have they gotten into now?" he grumbled. 

"It's him," Kili said, attempting to brush the matted hair away from the little one's face. "He's the Bramble. He's been here all along." 

"What's this now?" Oin asked. 

"Kili believes this is Bilbo," Fili explained. “He’s too dirty to tell though.”

Oin stared at the little body for several moments. "Yes, I can see why you would think so. Let's get him cleaned up and see what we've got." He turned and yelled for hot water and plenty of towels as he began to examine the arms and legs.

"As far as we know, his legs are the only injury," Fili explained as the orderly wove around him with a pitcher and basin. He watched as Kili shooed the lad away and wringing out a towel, began rubbing the dirt away from the leg not being examined by Oin. Fili turned to the basin, wet another towel and began wiping down an arm. 

Even though there were three of them wiping down the still form, it still took some time because the little body was so encrusted with dirt and mud. Oin didn’t even try to save the clothes, simply cutting them off and dropping them to the floor for the orderly to deal with.

“It would have been faster to throw him into a hot bath,” he grumbled.

“But it would have woken him and he’s as feral as any animal I’ve ever seen,” Fili said. 

“It was like he couldn’t understand what we were saying,” Kili added. He had started on the face and was beginning to see pale skin underneath. “I would have thought he would have been sun browned but it looks like he’s been covered in mud for so long, he’s pale.”

As more of the face was revealed, Fili and Oin stilled to watch. Every swipe revealed more of the little cheeks, the little nose they were familiar with. As he made the last swipe, Kili whispered, “what happened to you, Bilbo?” They stood in a moment of wondering silence and then there was an explosion of sounds as several people rushed over to the bed.

Kili turned to face the crowd. “It’s Bilbo!”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Khuzdul translations:  
> Khi - One  
> id-amlâk amrâb-ê - the half of my soul


End file.
